Moudud Ahmed has opened up about losing his Gulshan residence, first time since his very public eviction by the capital development authorities.

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The senior BNP leader, who held important offices for various past regimes, claimed he lost the house for not using his political influence.

"I've been living in that house for 36 years. I told the Supreme Court in my argument that I've made many mistakes in life. But my worst mistake was that I did not use my power here," he told a discussion at the National Press Club on Friday.

Moudud was forcibly moved out of the Gulshan-2 house by RAJUK, the capital development authorities, earlier this month.

The Jun 7 eviction marked the end of a long legal battle started by the Anti Corruption Commission when it accused Moudud's brother of using 'fake' documents to occupy the property.

The house, on 24,480 square feet inside Dhaka's diplomatic zone, was declared an abandoned property after Bangladesh's liberation from Pakistan.

Its owner had been Md Ehsan, a Pakistani national, and Austrian wife Inje Mariah Platz, before they left the country during the war. Moudud, who as a young lawyer fought the famous Agartala conspiracy case, began living there in 1972.

"I've held so many positions that I can do just …. You all know who heads our RAJUK. If my EPS had only signed and told him to fix it, he would have come to my home and fixed it. But I didn’t do it."

"And not doing that was a mistake for which now I am subjected to injustice, repression and vengeance.

"Because I am a BNP leader," Moudud added.

The Supreme Court lawyer said he said this to the judges and Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha agreed.

"The chief justice said I would have got international recognition as a lawyer if I was not involved in politics, and that too, with the opposition," he said.

He claimed the court verdict says the house in Gulshan was not a government property. "It belongs to the woman who was my client," he said.

The BNP policymaker, referring to newspaper reports, said the son of that client, Karim Sulaiman, has come to Dhaka and claimed the ownership of the house.

"What I am saying is that it is matter involving two private parties. Then how has the government's appeal been granted? I am leaving the matter for the people to judge," he added.

He reiterated that he was evicted from the house without any notice.

"They would have served me a notice if there was rule of law in the country...When they sensed defeat in the legal battle, they grabbed the house by using brutal force.

"This matter won't go without justice. At least in the next life," he added.